Hello Folks, We are testing out some hardwood floor stains & finishes on a section of our white oak floors before embarking on the larger project. In the first photo below, we applied 1 layer of Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner followed by 2 layers of Minwax oil-based stain (natural 209), let it dry for 3 days then applied 2 layers of Bona Traffic HD in satin and left it to dry overnight. In checking on it in the morning, we noticed areas that became "dandelion yellow" (circled in the photo below) as noted by SJ McCarthy and wanted to know if this an artifact of not applying a sealant after staining/prior to adding the Bona Traffic HD. Any thoughts on how to avoid this? Would applying a sealant prior to the water-based Bona Traffic HD prevent the yellowing? If so, what Bona sealant would you advise using? The second photo underwent an identical process except we only applied 1 layer of the Minwax oil-based stain (natural 209) and observed minimal yellowing. Don't know what to make of that. We'd like to use the combination of the Minwax product and the Bona Traffic HD so any advice on how to prevent the yellowing would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. Cheers, Anthony (Apologies if the photo quality isn't great)

My take on engineered "solid wood" flooring is that it's an overblown term to describe a lower quality product than can be created by any local sawmill. It's basically plywood with a thin layer of decent wood on the top. The one good thing I can find about it is that it uses resources that otherwise would be wasted, and it save trees. So it has environmental benefits, partially. On the other hand, the plies are glued together with adhesives. I don't know what glues are used, but I'd bet they're environmentally offensive and will offgass in your home. (another "green" conundrum.) There might be specific conditions under which the plywood's greater stability is useful, but in most cases, real wood will stand the test of time better. I was looking at some yesterday and it's several layers of junk wood with a very thin layer of hardwood on top. We've installed solid wood floors all over our house ourselves. It's one of the more doable projects for a homeowner with modest skills. I wouldn't buy a brand name, I'd find a quality small business that mills the boards. I'd ask about the length of the boards, whether the boards are end matched (cut at a 90 degree angle so you don't have to cut each one while installing), the color consistency and the knots. A high quality floor has nice board lengths (few in the 2 to 4' range, and some being 8 and 10'), consistent coloration of the boards and few, if any, knots. Oh, and 3/4" thickness. Most of the flooring you see these days, especially by brand name, will contain lots of short boards with varying color. When laid, what you see is a choppy floor. There are good and easy-to-use sanders that you can rent that have a flat bottom and don't gouge the floors. They put out surprisingly little dust, visibly, anyway. I'm not sure about finishes, but research might turn up some tough ones that aren't as toxic as the typical polyurethanes. I don't know the age of your current white oak floor, but if it's an older one, I think this is the best way to match it. It's also the best quality wood floor, imo. BTW, there's a lot of confusing terminology in the wood flooring world, no doubt intentional. Using the word "solid" to refer to engineered wood is a little tricky. Or "hardwood". The samples I saw yesterday looked like they consisted of layers of fir or whatever plywood is made of, and that's a so-called softwood. If you can't use the word "solid" to distinguish a board sawn from a tree, I don't know what you're supposed to call it.

Refinishing hardwoods every 5-10 years is probably about right for heavy use. That is the beauty of floors that can be refinished. Scratched sheet vinyl or laminate is just ripped out and thrown away. Solid hardwood is generally cheaper than good quality engineered hardwood. You can buy lower quality material with either. For example, I saw 5" wide solid pre-finished hardwood (Russian white oak- made in China) at Menards the other day. The first thing I notice is the obvious seams on the planks where two 2.5" strips are edge glued together like furniture. I sure hope the glue holds up over time! The price was low at $3.50/sf, but Menards also had pre-finished solid red oak strip on sale for $2.40/s.f and that product is made in the USA with quality standards. Engineered is more dimensionally stable than solid. Rift and quarter sawn solid flooring and/or narrow solid floorboards are more dimensionally stable than flat sawn and/or wide solid planks. Pre-finished is quicker and less mess, but you get bevels or micro-bevels between the strips or planks. Unfinished gives you more stain and topcoat options and a floor with no bevels due to sanding. Both types of finishes can be scratched and will require refinishing the top coat at some point in time.

@falusiaa I know this thread is a few years old now but did you end up getting your floors reinstalled? We're looking at having this exact same floor installed in our home- Maxwell unfinished engineered white oak in select grade. Have you been happy with it? Did you apply a stain or go with the natural finish? Like you, we are opting for a bit more modern and don't want the knots and character defects that make it a little more rustic. Thanks!